The great unknown in the UK's economic future over the next few years is the behaviour of the migrants.
How deep are their UK roots? Are they just a transient workforce that will up and leave if the UK's economy turns?
Instead of wasting money on polls about who will do what if they are £100 worse off, someone should be asking, "what will the migrants do when things change?"
Vast sums of public money will end up being committed to extra schools, the NHS, housing etc on the assumption of them staying. How committed to the UK are these people?
Sean - I voted to leave the European Union. That was the question on the referendum ballot. You are arguing to exit the single market, which is an option. But isn't mandated by my vote or the question asked.
I think we should stay in the Single Market for 5-10 years, then reconsider options, as long as we get some control on migration. And I believe we can achieve that, as long as we are prepared to pay.
We will have to pay. David Davis gets it. I got it a year ago when I predicted just this. We will be Norway Plus, with fudged semantics.
To be honest, and I don't want to put a downer on things, but I don't think mass migration can be stopped. Not without taking measures that'd be so strong that they'd have huge consequences elsewhere, which wouldn't be tolerated.
The best I can hope so is switching a chunk of low-skilled for high-skilled immigration, bringing net migration down into the 100-200k annual bracket, and strengthening integration and assimilation policies, with a tacking away from the ideology of multi-culturalism and pushing a bit less of the identity politics.
But i don't even expect us to get that. And the next Labour government, whenever it comes, will probably ratchet it back up again.
2026 - all new petrol cars will be banned according to the latest Islington missive from Jeremy
T May's pants cost £995. A single pensioner gets £119 per week. About 8 weeks pension.
And arch socialist Tony Benn did what with his inheritance? And Bob Crow did what with his council house when earning a six figure salary? And the last leader of the Labour Party had how many kitchens in his multi million pound property?
The only people who can legitimately play the game of envy and distribution politics are now are sitting in places like the SNP and UKIP.
It was not envy politics. It is about bad taste. A skin tight leather trousers......ugh !
Yawn. Who cares what a reasonably well-off person pays for their clothes?
That part is immaterial. Her alleged reaction, as done though her staff, in response to criticism about it, on the other hand, is something that is not automatically irrelevant.
Small technical question if there are any builders here. I'm translating some Austrian building regs which repeatedly refer to "Bauwich", which is literally the "space between buildings". Planning permission is only given if these are kept clear and if the house is large they have to be as wide as at least half the height and usually as large as the whole height.
Is this a familiar concept in British building? And is there a tidier term than "space between buildings"?
gap?
I would use the word distance, but it's not a technical term as far as I know
Or separation. I'll shut up at this point ...
Really seriously. Passage or passageway. In the States it would be called an alley or does that mean a street ?
I notice no one from any part answered my previous assertions despite I quoted rochdale pioneers which was not getting either at him or the labour party particularly. What have any of your parties ever done for people like me? Dont quote tax thresholds because ok they helped but didnt go nearly anywhere near covering the rent rises, travel rises, fuel rises
Serious question: why should you expect political parties to do things for you? Their job is to run a government, ensure the country is defended, children get educated and organise a welfare and health system etc. You might quibble at the margins, but I think most people would expect governments to do those basic tasks
Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.
I did not have a deprived childhood, my parents (salesman and secretary) were homeowners. I was educated in comprehensives, had a grant for Medical School and worked my way up the tree. I had my first job in a petrol station aged 16, and worked my way through Med School with work in kitchens and behind bars, all decent jobs that educated me in the ways of the world, and taught me a lot about life and work. I inherited £1000 in 1996, but otherwise am completely self made. What has any party done for me, except tax me?
But Nick P is right, the parties all established an environment where people like me could fulfill my potential. I am fully aware that not everybody is in the same situation, and know people who have needed at periods in their lives where the state had to carry them, and do not begrudge them that. Indeed I thank my lucky stars that I have never needed to call on the state apart from the basics such as law and order, defence and education.
The welfare state (or any state function) is like an insurance policy, something to pay for that you never want to use.
T May's pants cost £995. A single pensioner gets £119 per week. About 8 weeks pension.
And arch socialist Tony Benn did what with his inheritance? And Bob Crow did what with his council house when earning a six figure salary? And the last leader of the Labour Party had how many kitchens in his multi million pound property?
The only people who can legitimately play the game of envy and distribution politics are now are sitting in places like the SNP and UKIP.
It was not envy politics. It is about bad taste. A skin tight leather trousers......ugh !
Yawn. Who cares what a reasonably well-off person pays for their clothes?
That part is immaterial. Her alleged reaction, as done though her staff, in response to criticism about it, on the other hand, is something that is not automatically irrelevant.
Her alleged reaction is understandable as Nicky Morgan has been in the sulks ever since she was sacked and chose to become personal and disloyal
Small technical question if there are any builders here. I'm translating some Austrian building regs which repeatedly refer to "Bauwich", which is literally the "space between buildings". Planning permission is only given if these are kept clear and if the house is large they have to be as wide as at least half the height and usually as large as the whole height.
Is this a familiar concept in British building? And is there a tidier term than "space between buildings"?
gap?
I would use the word distance, but it's not a technical term as far as I know
Or separation. I'll shut up at this point ...
Really seriously. Passage or passageway. In the States it would be called an alley or does that mean a street ?
I notice no one from any part answered my previous assertions despite I quoted rochdale pioneers which was not getting either at him or the labour party particularly. What have any of your parties ever done for people like me? Dont quote tax thresholds because ok they helped but didnt go nearly anywhere near covering the rent rises, travel rises, fuel rises
Serious question: why should you expect political parties to do things for you? Their job is to run a government, ensure the country is defended, children get educated and organise a welfare and health system etc. You might quibble at the margins, but I think most people would expect governments to do those basic tasks
I dont expect them to give me money, what I dont expect though is them to make it harder and harder for people like me to actually make a living beyond subsistence which is the level I am approaching and many of my friends are already below
OK. What are they doing, that they should stop doing, which makes it harder for people like you to make a decent living?
Small technical question if there are any builders here. I'm translating some Austrian building regs which repeatedly refer to "Bauwich", which is literally the "space between buildings". Planning permission is only given if these are kept clear and if the house is large they have to be as wide as at least half the height and usually as large as the whole height.
Is this a familiar concept in British building? And is there a tidier term than "space between buildings"?
gap?
I would use the word distance, but it's not a technical term as far as I know
Or separation. I'll shut up at this point ...
Really seriously. Passage or passageway. In the States it would be called an alley or does that mean a street ?
Small technical question if there are any builders here. I'm translating some Austrian building regs which repeatedly refer to "Bauwich", which is literally the "space between buildings". Planning permission is only given if these are kept clear and if the house is large they have to be as wide as at least half the height and usually as large as the whole height.
Is this a familiar concept in British building? And is there a tidier term than "space between buildings"?
Is it the curtilage?
No. curtilage has a specific meaning of the limits of the land attached to a house. Basically the outer boundary of the land on which a house is built. I have the misfortune to know this as I live in a grade 2 listed building and there are strict limits on what I can do within the curtilage of the house.
Small technical question if there are any builders here. I'm translating some Austrian building regs which repeatedly refer to "Bauwich", which is literally the "space between buildings". Planning permission is only given if these are kept clear and if the house is large they have to be as wide as at least half the height and usually as large as the whole height.
Is this a familiar concept in British building? And is there a tidier term than "space between buildings"?
gap?
I would use the word distance, but it's not a technical term as far as I know
Or separation. I'll shut up at this point ...
Really seriously. Passage or passageway. In the States it would be called an alley or does that mean a street ?
In Oldham, it would be a ginnel.
Jitty in Leicester.
Good to see Leicester turn over City. Where have they been all season in the league, they turned it on today
@ Pagan - apologies, missed your initial question. Simple answer "not enough". In reality everyone's lives successes and failures operate within a societal framework shaped by politicians. Whats new is the view that all politicians are responsible for all that's bad with all that's good entirely down to the individual who apparently lives in a bubble unaffected by other people
Thank you for the reply and though I quoted you I wasnt taking a swing at you or the labour party. I get frustrated here because I get the impression most are quite well to do or at least dont realise how badly off most are. I earn 40k@ a year,2500 a month and top 20% of earners, my rent and travel come to about 1600 add onto that council tax and utilites and there isnt much left. No dont live in a mansion either a 2 up 2 down terrace in a bad part of slough, biggest room is 10 by 10.
My girlfriend was in tears the other day because she had a 500 electric bill come in due to poor estimation and a 600 vets bill come in after the family cat knocked over the christmas tree and got glass in its eye. she had 2£ left to feed her and her two daughters till the first of january as her earnings are 900 a month, Luckily over the last year I have managed to put a whole 300 aside for a rain day,,,,so she and her daughters will still have a christmas thats not an empty plate
Small technical question if there are any builders here. I'm translating some Austrian building regs which repeatedly refer to "Bauwich", which is literally the "space between buildings". Planning permission is only given if these are kept clear and if the house is large they have to be as wide as at least half the height and usually as large as the whole height.
Is this a familiar concept in British building? And is there a tidier term than "space between buildings"?
Is it the curtilage?
No. curtilage has a specific meaning of the limits of the land attached to a house. Basically the outer boundary of the land on which a house is built. I have the misfortune to know this as I live in a grade 2 listed building and there are strict limits on what I can do within the curtilage of the house.
My head imagined you saying that in the voice of Sid James.
Small technical question if there are any builders here. I'm translating some Austrian building regs which repeatedly refer to "Bauwich", which is literally the "space between buildings". Planning permission is only given if these are kept clear and if the house is large they have to be as wide as at least half the height and usually as large as the whole height.
Is this a familiar concept in British building? And is there a tidier term than "space between buildings"?
Is it the curtilage?
No. curtilage has a specific meaning of the limits of the land attached to a house. Basically the outer boundary of the land on which a house is built. I have the misfortune to know this as I live in a grade 2 listed building and there are strict limits on what I can do within the curtilage of the house.
My head imagined you saying that in the voice of Sid James.
Small technical question if there are any builders here. I'm translating some Austrian building regs which repeatedly refer to "Bauwich", which is literally the "space between buildings". Planning permission is only given if these are kept clear and if the house is large they have to be as wide as at least half the height and usually as large as the whole height.
Is this a familiar concept in British building? And is there a tidier term than "space between buildings"?
gap?
I would use the word distance, but it's not a technical term as far as I know
Or separation. I'll shut up at this point ...
Really seriously. Passage or passageway. In the States it would be called an alley or does that mean a street ?
In Oldham, it would be a ginnel.
Jitty in Leicester.
Good to see Leicester turn over City. Where have they been all season in the league, they turned it on today
For the first time this season, they played like last season. Playing the reserves midweek in the Champions League seems to have been the jolt needed for them to up their game.
I don't think it was a one off, the players looked hungry again. They are playing for places, and as a team again.
T May's pants cost £995. A single pensioner gets £119 per week. About 8 weeks pension.
And arch socialist Tony Benn did what with his inheritance? And Bob Crow did what with his council house when earning a six figure salary? And the last leader of the Labour Party had how many kitchens in his multi million pound property?
The only people who can legitimately play the game of envy and distribution politics are now are sitting in places like the SNP and UKIP.
It was not envy politics. It is about bad taste. A skin tight leather trousers......ugh !
Yawn. Who cares what a reasonably well-off person pays for their clothes?
That part is immaterial. Her alleged reaction, as done though her staff, in response to criticism about it, on the other hand, is something that is not automatically irrelevant.
In the week when women now make up 30% of the representation in the House of COmmons, the press celebrate this with a story about one woman MP getting catty about the clothes of another woman MP.... Depressing doesn't really do it justice.
Small technical question if there are any builders here. I'm translating some Austrian building regs which repeatedly refer to "Bauwich", which is literally the "space between buildings". Planning permission is only given if these are kept clear and if the house is large they have to be as wide as at least half the height and usually as large as the whole height.
Is this a familiar concept in British building? And is there a tidier term than "space between buildings"?
gap?
I would use the word distance, but it's not a technical term as far as I know
Or separation. I'll shut up at this point ...
Really seriously. Passage or passageway. In the States it would be called an alley or does that mean a street ?
In Oldham, it would be a ginnel.
Jitty in Leicester.
Good to see Leicester turn over City. Where have they been all season in the league, they turned it on today
For the first time this season, they played like last season. Playing the reserves midweek in the Champions League seems to have been the jolt needed for them to up their game.
I don't think it was a one off, the players looked hungry again. They are playing for places, and as a team again.
They were excellent in the first half especially and good to watch
T May's pants cost £995. A single pensioner gets £119 per week. About 8 weeks pension.
And arch socialist Tony Benn did what with his inheritance? And Bob Crow did what with his council house when earning a six figure salary? And the last leader of the Labour Party had how many kitchens in his multi million pound property?
The only people who can legitimately play the game of envy and distribution politics are now are sitting in places like the SNP and UKIP.
It was not envy politics. It is about bad taste. A skin tight leather trousers......ugh !
Yawn. Who cares what a reasonably well-off person pays for their clothes?
That part is immaterial. Her alleged reaction, as done though her staff, in response to criticism about it, on the other hand, is something that is not automatically irrelevant.
Her alleged reaction is understandable as Nicky Morgan has been in the sulks ever since she was sacked and chose to become personal and disloyal
Her wish to react in that fashion is understandable, but actually doing so is childish. I see nothing untoward in feeling, if the reports of her behaviour are accurate, that a PM should have more control and be held to a higher standard that sulking malcontents. By virtue of being a leader they should be able to rise above such pettiness, not sink to a similar level. And that applies to her predecessors, who we know were not immune to petty reactions either.
T May's pants cost £995. A single pensioner gets £119 per week. About 8 weeks pension.
And arch socialist Tony Benn did what with his inheritance? And Bob Crow did what with his council house when earning a six figure salary? And the last leader of the Labour Party had how many kitchens in his multi million pound property?
The only people who can legitimately play the game of envy and distribution politics are now are sitting in places like the SNP and UKIP.
It was not envy politics. It is about bad taste. A skin tight leather trousers......ugh !
Yawn. Who cares what a reasonably well-off person pays for their clothes?
That part is immaterial. Her alleged reaction, as done though her staff, in response to criticism about it, on the other hand, is something that is not automatically irrelevant.
Her alleged reaction is understandable as Nicky Morgan has been in the sulks ever since she was sacked and chose to become personal and disloyal
Her wish to react in that fashion is understandable, but actually doing so is childish. I see nothing untoward in feeling, if the reports of her behaviour are accurate, that a PM should have more control and be held to a higher standard that sulking malcontents. By virtue of being a leader they should be able to rise above such pettiness, not sink to a similar level. And that applies to her predecessors, who we know were not immune to petty reactions either.
To be fair we don't really know the full story and I have always had a rule not to intervene when the ladies have a dog fight
T May's pants cost £995. A single pensioner gets £119 per week. About 8 weeks pension.
And arch socialist Tony Benn did what with his inheritance? And Bob Crow did what with his council house when earning a six figure salary? And the last leader of the Labour Party had how many kitchens in his multi million pound property?
The only people who can legitimately play the game of envy and distribution politics are now are sitting in places like the SNP and UKIP.
It was not envy politics. It is about bad taste. A skin tight leather trousers......ugh !
Yawn. Who cares what a reasonably well-off person pays for their clothes?
That part is immaterial. Her alleged reaction, as done though her staff, in response to criticism about it, on the other hand, is something that is not automatically irrelevant.
In the week when women now make up 30% of the representation in the House of COmmons, the press celebrate this with a story about one woman MP getting catty about the clothes of another woman MP.... Depressing doesn't really do it justice.
Well, getting to 30% is not necessarily newsworthy in itself, there's nothing significant about the number 30 and many would just say it is too early to celebrate, but there is surely something else that could be focused on I would agree. That being said, senior people acting like children makes for a fun story, given their inherent seriousness due to their positions, so having been given the info, how could the press not run it to some degree. There will always be an awkward squad ready to mouth off, you don't feed it. Corbyn has somewhat learned the lesson over the last year to not make bad stories even worse by making them even bigger and enduring, by feeding them.
T May's pants cost £995. A single pensioner gets £119 per week. About 8 weeks pension.
And arch socialist Tony Benn did what with his inheritance? And Bob Crow did what with his council house when earning a six figure salary? And the last leader of the Labour Party had how many kitchens in his multi million pound property?
The only people who can legitimately play the game of envy and distribution politics are now are sitting in places like the SNP and UKIP.
It was not envy politics. It is about bad taste. A skin tight leather trousers......ugh !
Yawn. Who cares what a reasonably well-off person pays for their clothes?
That part is immaterial. Her alleged reaction, as done though her staff, in response to criticism about it, on the other hand, is something that is not automatically irrelevant.
Her alleged reaction is understandable as Nicky Morgan has been in the sulks ever since she was sacked and chose to become personal and disloyal
Her wish to react in that fashion is understandable, but actually doing so is childish. I see nothing untoward in feeling, if the reports of her behaviour are accurate, that a PM should have more control and be held to a higher standard that sulking malcontents. By virtue of being a leader they should be able to rise above such pettiness, not sink to a similar level. And that applies to her predecessors, who we know were not immune to petty reactions either.
To be fair we don't really know the full story and I have always had a rule not to intervene when the ladies have a dog fight
Well indeed, this is far from definitive stuff, though if it is a true reflection on events that's dispiriting.
Small technical question if there are any builders here. I'm translating some Austrian building regs which repeatedly refer to "Bauwich", which is literally the "space between buildings". Planning permission is only given if these are kept clear and if the house is large they have to be as wide as at least half the height and usually as large as the whole height.
Is this a familiar concept in British building? And is there a tidier term than "space between buildings"?
gap?
I would use the word distance, but it's not a technical term as far as I know
Or separation. I'll shut up at this point ...
Really seriously. Passage or passageway. In the States it would be called an alley or does that mean a street ?
In Oldham, it would be a ginnel.
Jitty in Leicester.
Good to see Leicester turn over City. Where have they been all season in the league, they turned it on today
For the first time this season, they played like last season. Playing the reserves midweek in the Champions League seems to have been the jolt needed for them to up their game.
I don't think it was a one off, the players looked hungry again. They are playing for places, and as a team again.
They were excellent in the first half especially and good to watch
T May's pants cost £995. A single pensioner gets £119 per week. About 8 weeks pension.
And arch socialist Tony Benn did what with his inheritance? And Bob Crow did what with his council house when earning a six figure salary? And the last leader of the Labour Party had how many kitchens in his multi million pound property?
The only people who can legitimately play the game of envy and distribution politics are now are sitting in places like the SNP and UKIP.
It was not envy politics. It is about bad taste. A skin tight leather trousers......ugh !
Yawn. Who cares what a reasonably well-off person pays for their clothes?
That part is immaterial. Her alleged reaction, as done though her staff, in response to criticism about it, on the other hand, is something that is not automatically irrelevant.
Her alleged reaction is understandable as Nicky Morgan has been in the sulks ever since she was sacked and chose to become personal and disloyal
Her wish to react in that fashion is understandable, but actually doing so is childish. I see nothing untoward in feeling, if the reports of her behaviour are accurate, that a PM should have more control and be held to a higher standard that sulking malcontents. By virtue of being a leader they should be able to rise above such pettiness, not sink to a similar level. And that applies to her predecessors, who we know were not immune to petty reactions either.
To be fair we don't really know the full story and I have always had a rule not to intervene when the ladies have a dog fight
Well indeed, this is far from definitive stuff, though if it is a true reflection on events that's dispiriting.
I have witnessed some humdingers between ladies in various organisations and this whole story is so silly when we consider the serious issues facing the Country
@NickPalmer More seriously, could it mean Curtilage?
(Just a guess, no knowledge about the translation).
Thanks for all the suggestions - I'm very tempted by curtilage, as it seems to mean something very similar, but it's dangerously specific and Linguee (the usual refenrece for translation) translates it back into German as something else. Passage might be right but I'm not sure it covers the use here. I think i'll default to gap/space, which is unlikely to b actually wrong even if it's not optimal.
As usual, PB very helpful indeed when it comes to a practical question!
As a planning officer I would use gap/space between buildings, there is no other word I can think of that would describe this situation. Curtilage means something different, eg the total area of space that surrounds the building and is evidently related to it (eg garden, driveway etc)
I would stay steer clear of curtilage, jitty, gennel, alleyway, driveway etc as they all carry in their meaning implications about ownership, planning rights and rights of way for third parties, in English or Scottish Law, and your readers may be pushed into wrong assumptions.
If you mean physical space, stick to physical space, otherwise find out exactly what you do mean and choose the correct technical word .. or use a more general word and leave it silent on specifics and implications if the specifics may be in error.
It would be interesting if this forum could identify where the main contributors were based as it would help to see the influences in play in their contributions. I think the discussions are amazing and many are so very thoughtful and sincere
I live in Llandudno and have done so for over 50 yrears
@NickPalmer More seriously, could it mean Curtilage?
(Just a guess, no knowledge about the translation).
Thanks for all the suggestions - I'm very tempted by curtilage, as it seems to mean something very similar, but it's dangerously specific and Linguee (the usual refenrece for translation) translates it back into German as something else. Passage might be right but I'm not sure it covers the use here. I think i'll default to gap/space, which is unlikely to b actually wrong even if it's not optimal.
As usual, PB very helpful indeed when it comes to a practical question!
As a planning officer I would use gap/space between buildings, there is no other word I can think of that would describe this situation. Curtilage means something different, eg the total area of space that surrounds the building and is evidently related to it (eg garden, driveway etc)
It would be interesting if this forum could identify where the main contributors were based as it would help to see the influences in play in their contributions. I think the discussions are amazing and many are so very thoughtful and sincere
I live in Llandudno and have done so for over 50 yrears
living in slough since 87 before that padstow since 67
yes I took it Sean and wasnt criticising their choice to give it, what i was criticising was their stance that they are for the working man other than that, and frankly cameron only offered the referendum because he thought it would give him a majority.
Simple fact is it is harder and harder for someone that works in this country to have more than a subsistence living, I am in the top 20% of earners, by the time you deduct rent, council tax, utilities and such I am down to about 140 a week to live on, may seem a lot but then I am supporting a family of four
I entirely agree and understand, and my recent liaisons with a few Millennials has shown me how tough it is for younger people to get by, even if they work hard, get degrees, pay taxes, do the right thing.
Globalisation is eroding relative western living standards, and mass immigration is a major factor within that, in countries like the UK.
It is impossible for us to absorb 350,000 net migrants every year, in perpetuity. Not everyone wants to sleep ten to a room like Romanians, but that is where we are headed.
We need a new model: fewer migrants (but not none), and higher productivity. It has to be done. It will be painful. But the alternative (a population of 75m or more, or maybe 90m ) is way more painful and leads to civil strife.
Except most Millennials love mass immigration.
The young can be excused stupidity. I was pretty bloody dim and clueless at 25.
But they really do have it way worse than we did - or I did.
Have you seen this. What have the "liberals" become.
It would be interesting if this forum could identify where the main contributors were based as it would help to see the influences in play in their contributions. I think the discussions are amazing and many are so very thoughtful and sincere
I live in Llandudno and have done so for over 50 yrears
living in slough since 87 before that padstow since 67
That's interesting. I always associate Slough with Heathrow which my wife and I have used extensively for world wide travel since I retired. My eldest son lived in Uxbridge at one time and worked for DHL at Heathrow. He emigrated to New Zealand 14 years ago and has recently permanently moved to Vancouver
But Nick P is right, the parties all established an environment where people like me could fulfill my potential. I am fully aware that not everybody is in the same situation, and know people who have needed at periods in their lives where the state had to carry them, and do not begrudge them that. Indeed I thank my lucky stars that I have never needed to call on the state apart from the basics such as law and order, defence and education.
The welfare state (or any state function) is like an insurance policy, something to pay for that you never want to use.
I once met a voter who said she was outraged that she had to pay towards the NHS as she was never ill. I'm not often speechless but...
Parts of the welfare state still work quite well. The papers are full of alarm about the care system, but I spent a day this week visiting care homes in Penzance for my uncle and found one that he likes and is warmly recommended from various sides, and Cornwall council took exactly 48 hours to come up with full funding for it (£550/week including the national "hotel" part from the Government). Is he lucky? Is Cornwall particularly good? Not sure.
There are IMO at least two fundamental problems. First, the system as is only really works well if you are highly-literate and familiar with all the ins and outs. As a County candidate in a ward with a notably high illiteracy rate I'm appalled to see that the closed police station thinks it can hlep people by a notice with a list of bloody EMAIL addresses to report problems. No phone numbers, no address. The former benefits office (also closed) does exactly the same, plus urging that one goes to their website.
Second, the situation IS getting steadily worse for people at the bottom of the ladder. Because it's gradual, we don't hear that much about it, but I know quite a few people who have been a little worse off nearly every year for a decade or so. At the top of the ladder, we have lots of successful/lucky people who are doing fine (I've generally earned >100K/year for a long time, and that's part hard work and part luck). I think that we need to pay more tax and get serious about helping people who are almost literally being left behind.
I once met a voter who said she was outraged that she had to pay towards the NHS as she was never ill. I'm not often speechless but...
Parts of the welfare state still work quite well. The papers are full of alarm about the care system, but I spent a day this week visiting care homes in Penzance for my uncle and found one that he likes and is warmly recommended from various sides, and Cornwall council took exactly 48 hours to come up with full funding for it (£550/week including the national "hotel" part from the Government). Is he lucky? Is Cornwall particularly good? Not sure.
There are IMO at least two fundamental problems. First, the system as is only really works well if you are highly-literate and familiar with all the ins and outs. As a County candidate in a ward with a notably high illiteracy rate I'm appalled to see that the closed police station thinks it can hlep people by a notice with a list of bloody EMAIL addresses to report problems. No phone numbers, no address. The former benefits office (also closed) does exactly the same, plus urging that one goes to their website.
Second, the situation IS getting steadily worse for people at the bottom of the ladder. Because it's gradual, we don't hear that much about it, but I know quite a few people who have been a little worse off nearly every year for a decade or so. At the top of the ladder, we have lots of successful/lucky people who are doing fine (I've generally earned >100K/year for a long time, and that's part hard work and part luck). I think that we need to pay more tax and get serious about helping people who are almost literally being left behind.
Its more than the people at the bottom of the ladder nick I would say its the lower 80% and thats why you are seeing the upsets like brexit and trump. To a certain extent is unavoidable as globalisation occurs however more could be done to mitigate it
The welfare state (or any state function) is like an insurance policy, something to pay for that you never want to use.
I once met a voter who said she was outraged that she had to pay towards the NHS as she was never ill. I'm not often speechless but...
Parts of the welfare state still work quite well. The papers are full of alarm about the care system, but I spent a day this week visiting care homes in Penzance for my uncle and found one that he likes and is warmly recommended from various sides, and Cornwall council took exactly 48 hours to come up with full funding for it (£550/week including the national "hotel" part from the Government). Is he lucky? Is Cornwall particularly good? Not sure.
There are IMO at least two fundamental problems. First, the system as is only really works well if you are highly-literate and familiar with all the ins and outs. As a County candidate in a ward with a notably high illiteracy rate I'm appalled to see that the closed police station thinks it can hlep people by a notice with a list of bloody EMAIL addresses to report problems. No phone numbers, no address. The former benefits office (also closed) does exactly the same, plus urging that one goes to their website.
Second, the situation IS getting steadily worse for people at the bottom of the ladder. Because it's gradual, we don't hear that much about it, but I know quite a few people who have been a little worse off nearly every year for a decade or so. At the top of the ladder, we have lots of successful/lucky people who are doing fine (I've generally earned >100K/year for a long time, and that's part hard work and part luck). I think that we need to pay more tax and get serious about helping people who are almost literally being left behind.
I think that in the NHS there is a semi-deliberate policy to ration care, and control costs by use of non financial barriers. At one time we had waiting lists, but the 18/52 has put paid to that. Tarrifs are nationally set and reduced by a few percent each year. In practice we make it difficult to access care as the means of controlling expenditure. I think this is indirect discrimination against less articulate people, illiterate people, the less well educated, and those whose mother tongue is not English. I expect other services are similar, so am not surprised by your police story.
If these barriers were to go, unless with a major financial uplift, we would need another form of cost control.
I once met a voter who said she was outraged that she had to pay towards the NHS as she was never ill. I'm not often speechless but...
Parts of the welfare state still work quite well. The papers are full of alarm about the care system, but I spent a day this week visiting care homes in Penzance for my uncle and found one that he likes and is warmly recommended from various sides, and Cornwall council took exactly 48 hours to come up with full funding for it (£550/week including the national "hotel" part from the Government). Is he lucky? Is Cornwall particularly good? Not sure.
There are IMO at least two fundamental problems. First, the system as is only really works well if you are highly-literate and familiar with all the ins and outs. As a County candidate in a ward with a notably high illiteracy rate I'm appalled to see that the closed police station thinks it can hlep people by a notice with a list of bloody EMAIL addresses to report problems. No phone numbers, no address. The former benefits office (also closed) does exactly the same, plus urging that one goes to their website.
Second, the situation IS getting steadily worse for people at the bottom of the ladder. Because it's gradual, we don't hear that much about it, but I know quite a few people who have been a little worse off nearly every year for a decade or so. At the top of the ladder, we have lots of successful/lucky people who are doing fine (I've generally earned >100K/year for a long time, and that's part hard work and part luck). I think that we need to pay more tax and get serious about helping people who are almost literally being left behind.
Its more than the people at the bottom of the ladder nick I would say its the lower 80% and thats why you are seeing the upsets like brexit and trump. To a certain extent is unavoidable as globalisation occurs however more could be done to mitigate it
Yes, up to a point the EU is quite useful for that - they have a big enough market to be able to wrestle with people like phone companies and Microsoft and force them to stop charging whatever they can to each country, and it's something the Commission does slowly but often quite effectively.A separate issue is the enormous losses to tax avoidance for all the major developed countries. Britain's role in that is quite ambiguous - we lose a lot that way, but the City is also helpful to major tax avoiders. When we've pushed off, I hope to see the EU taking a stronger line, and perhaps setting a minimum corporation tax rate as for VAT.
Bed here too - am in day 4 of novovirus, and trust the websites that say it pushes off by day 5 are right...
It would be interesting if this forum could identify where the main contributors were based as it would help to see the influences in play in their contributions. I think the discussions are amazing and many are so very thoughtful and sincere
I live in Llandudno and have done so for over 50 yrears
living in slough since 87 before that padstow since 67
London - bought up in Oxford.
On the subject of people finding their living standards going backwards - it is the cost of housing. Utility bills and cost of travel are a close second.
Last night, while having a discussion with a "mass immigration is a moral right" friend, I suggested a idea.... For each immigrant entering the country, one extra bedrooms worth of planning permission would have to be granted. The reaction was interesting.
Thank you for the reply and though I quoted you I wasnt taking a swing at you or the labour party. I get frustrated here because I get the impression most are quite well to do or at least dont realise how badly off most are. I earn 40k@ a year,2500 a month and top 20% of earners, my rent and travel come to about 1600 add onto that council tax and utilites and there isnt much left. No dont live in a mansion either a 2 up 2 down terrace in a bad part of slough, biggest room is 10 by 10.
* £1600pcm for rent and travel is quite high: how much is rent, how much travel? * Your 2up2down: mortgage or rental? If rental, is there a clause for subletting? * Do you live alone? * Have you any dependent children/alimony payments? * Where do you work and do you commute there by train/car/other?
These are personal questions so please feel free to tell me to fuck off if you don't want to disclose them. It's just that I have some ideas on how to help but to do that I need to know your circs. Bear in mind you might not like some of my ideas ( ) but they will help.
Thank you for the reply and though I quoted you I wasnt taking a swing at you or the labour party. I get frustrated here because I get the impression most are quite well to do or at least dont realise how badly off most are. I earn 40k@ a year,2500 a month and top 20% of earners, my rent and travel come to about 1600 add onto that council tax and utilites and there isnt much left. No dont live in a mansion either a 2 up 2 down terrace in a bad part of slough, biggest room is 10 by 10.
* £1600pcm for rent and travel is quite high: how much is rent, how much travel? * Your 2up2down: mortgage or rental? If rental, is there a clause for subletting? * Do you live alone? * Have you any dependent children/alimony payments? * Where do you work and do you commute there by train/car/other?
These are personal questions so please feel free to tell me to fuck off if you don't want to disclose them. It's just that I have some ideas on how to help but to do that I need to know your circs. Bear in mind you might not like some of my ideas ( ) but they will help.
Money management is not my strong suit (although do a reasonably good thing of keeping track of it on the computer), but even I think that's expensive. My combined rent for a studio and commuting is probably £1100, and I live in San Francisco!!
Thank you for the reply and though I quoted you I wasnt taking a swing at you or the labour party. I get frustrated here because I get the impression most are quite well to do or at least dont realise how badly off most are. I earn 40k@ a year,2500 a month and top 20% of earners, my rent and travel come to about 1600 add onto that council tax and utilites and there isnt much left. No dont live in a mansion either a 2 up 2 down terrace in a bad part of slough, biggest room is 10 by 10.
* £1600pcm for rent and travel is quite high: how much is rent, how much travel? * Your 2up2down: mortgage or rental? If rental, is there a clause for subletting? * Do you live alone? * Have you any dependent children/alimony payments? * Where do you work and do you commute there by train/car/other?
These are personal questions so please feel free to tell me to fuck off if you don't want to disclose them. It's just that I have some ideas on how to help but to do that I need to know your circs. Bear in mind you might not like some of my ideas ( ) but they will help.
Money management is not my strong suit (although do a reasonably good thing of keeping track of it on the computer), but even I think that's expensive. My combined rent for a studio and commuting is probably £1100, and I live in San Francisco!!
That's house prices in the South. The train to London would be £300 a month....
Not that long ago, that £1600 would have been half. Literally. We are talking just a few years back....
That is what the politicians can't understand - it is about *disposable* incomes. Headline inflation is non existent. Housing inflation has been 20% in some parts of the country. The problem is that we need to live in houses, not DVD players
Thank you for the reply and though I quoted you I wasnt taking a swing at you or the labour party. I get frustrated here because I get the impression most are quite well to do or at least dont realise how badly off most are. I earn 40k@ a year,2500 a month and top 20% of earners, my rent and travel come to about 1600 add onto that council tax and utilites and there isnt much left. No dont live in a mansion either a 2 up 2 down terrace in a bad part of slough, biggest room is 10 by 10.
* £1600pcm for rent and travel is quite high: how much is rent, how much travel? * Your 2up2down: mortgage or rental? If rental, is there a clause for subletting? * Do you live alone? * Have you any dependent children/alimony payments? * Where do you work and do you commute there by train/car/other?
These are personal questions so please feel free to tell me to fuck off if you don't want to disclose them. It's just that I have some ideas on how to help but to do that I need to know your circs. Bear in mind you might not like some of my ideas ( ) but they will help.
Money management is not my strong suit (although do a reasonably good thing of keeping track of it on the computer), but even I think that's expensive. My combined rent for a studio and commuting is probably £1100, and I live in San Francisco!!
Welcome to London commuterland. Slough is not in London by any definition but it's close enough to be influenced by the money and is pricey as a result. Various pressures (Osborne's stupidity like Help To Inflate made things worse). Pagan's claimed £1500pcm is not implausible by any means.
Also Down House, where Charles Darwin worked out evolution, and Isaac Newton's garden (where is that?), and Sigmund Freud's chaise longue, in Vienna
But as I say I would exclude them all, Kitty Hawk and Silicon Valley etc etc etc. They are not revolutions in the way that man interacts with the universe and perceives his place.
We have the Neolithic Revolution The monotheistic revolution The industrial revolution And arguably the Renaissance
And that's it. So far. Until AI
Until AI ?
AI is happening now.
Only in a very narrow sense. Algorithms to automate certain information-manipulation exist and are termed "AI". A true AI - artificial general intelligence, something capable of actually thinking, something self-aware, even - the route to that remains opaque to us. Which may be a blessing. For if human level AGI is possible, then it is extremely likely that improvement well beyond human levels is not only possible but all but inevitable - and rapidly so.
With the ability to think at levels as far beyond us as we are of other creatures - not just chimps, say, but mice, or ants, or sponges ... the outlook could be bleak. For all our fantasies that we could fight such, how well have less intelligent creatures fared when fighting us for a site, land, or entire ecological niche? We would have to hope that it did not see us as being in its way.
Note that Skynet doesn't need to be self-aware to kill us all and turn us into potting compost.
We've had super-intelligent non-human beings for a while in the form of corporations. They are sort-of governed by human decision-makers, and they're also regulated by human-run governments, but both these things are becoming gradually less true.
It would be interesting if this forum could identify where the main contributors were based as it would help to see the influences in play in their contributions. I think the discussions are amazing and many are so very thoughtful and sincere
I live in Llandudno and have done so for over 50 yrears
SE Staffs. Famous people from this area are Samuel Johnson, Robert Peel — and Michael Fabricant. Although the latter is originally from Brighton.
yes I took it Sean and wasnt criticising their choice to give it, what i was criticising was their stance that they are for the working man other than that, and frankly cameron only offered the referendum because he thought it would give him a majority.
Simple fact is it is harder and harder for someone that works in this country to have more than a subsistence living, I am in the top 20% of earners, by the time you deduct rent, council tax, utilities and such I am down to about 140 a week to live on, may seem a lot but then I am supporting a family of four
I entirely agree and understand, and my recent liaisons with a few Millennials has shown me how tough it is for younger people to get by, even if they work hard, get degrees, pay taxes, do the right thing.
Globalisation is eroding relative western living standards, and mass immigration is a major factor within that, in countries like the UK.
It is impossible for us to absorb 350,000 net migrants every year, in perpetuity. Not everyone wants to sleep ten to a room like Romanians, but that is where we are headed.
We need a new model: fewer migrants (but not none), and higher productivity. It has to be done. It will be painful. But the alternative (a population of 75m or more, or maybe 90m ) is way more painful and leads to civil strife.
Well as a millennial I think we have it harder in some ways... But much easier in others. We get cool technology and holidays to Thailand etc. I think we had great educational opportunities and generally much better chances of going to university.
But competition for jobs is fierce and crazy southern house prices and london-fcused industries cause daft expensive soul draining commutes. But we also have access to global jobs and a lot of friends go abroad quite easily for work (mainly not EU) which IMO is a good way to get ahead. Our qualifications are pretty well respected abroad.
1. We need way more housebuilding. Where I used to live in South there were very well organised njmby groups to say no to anything. Either we need to JFD or find a way to build new towns no one gets offended by.
2. We need to stop supporting (deliberately or accidentally) the London economy. I think one easy way is to permanently/semi permanently move as much of government to somewhere in the North. Probably have to do it gradually- but make it clear that the best promotion opportunities are if you move not if you stay. Would ease housing problems in London and give a huge investment boost to wherever you picked. Can also renovate parliament properly.
Well as a millennial I think we have it harder in some ways... But much easier in others. We get cool technology and holidays to Thailand etc. I think we had great educational opportunities and generally much better chances of going to university.
But competition for jobs is fierce and crazy southern house prices and london-fcused industries cause daft expensive soul draining commutes. But we also have access to global jobs and a lot of friends go abroad quite easily for work (mainly not EU) which IMO is a good way to get ahead. Our qualifications are pretty well respected abroad.
1. We need way more housebuilding. Where I used to live in South there were very well organised njmby groups to say no to anything. Either we need to JFD or find a way to build new towns no one gets offended by.
2. We need to stop supporting (deliberately or accidentally) the London economy. I think one easy way is to permanently/semi permanently move as much of government to somewhere in the North. Probably have to do it gradually- but make it clear that the best promotion opportunities are if you move not if you stay. Would ease housing problems in London and give a huge investment boost to wherever you picked. Can also renovate parliament properly.
Government can stay where it is but we do need something a bit like Northern Powerhouse but with deeds (and cash) instead of spin. Encourage entrepreneurs, designers and the like to move north by cheap housing and good services (no more stories about lengthy queues when a new dentist arrives in the north). Build new towns in the north, not the south. Refurbish boarded-up streets in northern towns. For industry and commerce, investigate whether more can be done to reduce transport costs.
Well as a millennial I think we have it harder in some ways... But much easier in others. We get cool technology and holidays to Thailand etc. I think we had great educational opportunities and generally much better chances of going to university.
But competition for jobs is fierce and crazy southern house prices and london-fcused industries cause daft expensive soul draining commutes. But we also have access to global jobs and a lot of friends go abroad quite easily for work (mainly not EU) which IMO is a good way to get ahead. Our qualifications are pretty well respected abroad.
1. We need way more housebuilding. Where I used to live in South there were very well organised njmby groups to say no to anything. Either we need to JFD or find a way to build new towns no one gets offended by.
2. We need to stop supporting (deliberately or accidentally) the London economy. I think one easy way is to permanently/semi permanently move as much of government to somewhere in the North. Probably have to do it gradually- but make it clear that the best promotion opportunities are if you move not if you stay. Would ease housing problems in London and give a huge investment boost to wherever you picked. Can also renovate parliament properly.
Government can stay where it is but we do need something a bit like Northern Powerhouse but with deeds (and cash) instead of spin. Encourage entrepreneurs, designers and the like to move north by cheap housing and good services (no more stories about lengthy queues when a new dentist arrives in the north). Build new towns in the north, not the south. Refurbish boarded-up streets in northern towns. For industry and commerce, investigate whether more can be done to reduce transport costs.
I really think nothing would make a bigger statement than 650 MPs upping sticks and moving to some northern city. Naturally the lobbyists/industry groups/consultancies would start to follow. Ambitious civil servants would be moving up north for promotion opportunities. You can bet new infrastructure and better links would be on the way pretty soon...
I don't think just spendinf cash is enough for businesses to switch... These cluster effects need a kick-start from government IMO.
USA, Canada, Australia, Brazil, and loads more ountries have different main cities for business and government. Yet UK tries to combine and then wonders why all the jobs are there....
Well as a millennial I think we have it harder in some ways... But much easier in others. We get cool technology and holidays to Thailand etc. I think we had great educational opportunities and generally much better chances of going to university.
But competition for jobs is fierce and crazy southern house prices and london-fcused industries cause daft expensive soul draining commutes. But we also have access to global jobs and a lot of friends go abroad quite easily for work (mainly not EU) which IMO is a good way to get ahead. Our qualifications are pretty well respected abroad.
1. We need way more housebuilding. Where I used to live in South there were very well organised njmby groups to say no to anything. Either we need to JFD or find a way to build new towns no one gets offended by.
2. We need to stop supporting (deliberately or accidentally) the London economy. I think one easy way is to permanently/semi permanently move as much of government to somewhere in the North. Probably have to do it gradually- but make it clear that the best promotion opportunities are if you move not if you stay. Would ease housing problems in London and give a huge investment boost to wherever you picked. Can also renovate parliament properly.
Government can stay where it is but we do need something a bit like Northern Powerhouse but with deeds (and cash) instead of spin. Encourage entrepreneurs, designers and the like to move north by cheap housing and good services (no more stories about lengthy queues when a new dentist arrives in the north). Build new towns in the north, not the south. Refurbish boarded-up streets in northern towns. For industry and commerce, investigate whether more can be done to reduce transport costs.
I really think nothing would make a bigger statement than 650 MPs upping sticks and moving to some northern city. Naturally the lobbyists/industry groups/consultancies would start to follow. Ambitious civil servants would be moving up north for promotion opportunities. You can bet new infrastructure and better links would be on the way pretty soon...
I don't think just spendinf cash is enough for businesses to switch... These cluster effects need a kick-start from government IMO.
USA, Canada, Australia, Brazil, and loads more ountries have different main cities for business and government. Yet UK tries to combine and then wonders why all the jobs are there....
I find it very unlikely that Parliament would move. Westminster is ancient, and I don't think they'd give up that Palace that easily. Far easier to get the businesses to move North, perhaps with variable corporation tax rates or something.
Well as a millennial I think we have it harder in some ways... But much easier in others. We get cool technology and holidays to Thailand etc. I think we had great educational opportunities and generally much better chances of going to university.
But competition for jobs is fierce and crazy southern house prices and london-fcused industries cause daft expensive soul draining commutes. But we also have access to global jobs and a lot of friends go abroad quite easily for work (mainly not EU) which IMO is a good way to get ahead. Our qualifications are pretty well respected abroad.
1. We need way more housebuilding. Where I used to live in South there were very well organised njmby groups to say no to anything. Either we need to JFD or find a way to build new towns no one gets offended by.
2. We need to stop supporting (deliberately or accidentally) the London economy.ly.
Government can stay where it is but we do need something a bit like Northern Powerhouse but with deeds (and cash) instead of spin. Encourage entrepreneurs, designers and the like to move north by cheap housing and good services (no more stories about lengthy queues when a new dentist arrives in the north). Build new towns in the north, not the south. Refurbish boarded-up streets in northern towns. For industry and commerce, investigate whether more can be done to reduce transport costs.
I really think nothing would make a bigger statement than 650 MPs upping sticks and moving to some northern city. Naturally the lobbyists/industry groups/consultancies would start to follow. Ambitious civil servants would be moving up north for promotion opportunities. You can bet new infrastructure and better links would be on the way pretty soon...
I don't think just spendinf cash is enough for businesses to switch... These cluster effects need a kick-start from government IMO.
USA, Canada, Australia, Brazil, and loads more ountries have different main cities for business and government. Yet UK tries to combine and then wonders why all the jobs are there....
I find it very unlikely that Parliament would move. Westminster is ancient, and I don't think they'd give up that Palace that easily. Far easier to get the businesses to move North, perhaps with variable corporation tax rates or something.
Given the renovations needed - the estimates are if they don't move out of parliament it will literally cost billions more.
To move government north requires political will. But not much else. To persuade businesses is much harder I think... Particularly when London is such a successful city.
Well as a millennial I think we have it harder in some ways... But much easier in others. We get cool technology and holidays to Thailand etc. I think we had great educational opportunities and generally much better chances of going to university.
But competition for jobs is fierce and crazy southern house prices and london-fcused industries cause daft expensive soul draining commutes. But we also have access to global jobs and a lot of friends go abroad quite easily for work (mainly not EU) which IMO is a good way to get ahead. Our qualifications are pretty well respected abroad.
1. We need way more housebuilding. Where I used to live in South there were very well organised njmby groups to say no to anything. Either we need to JFD or find a way to build new towns no one gets offended by.
2. We need to stop supporting (deliberately or accidentally) the London economy.ly.
Government can stay where it is but we do need something a bit like Northern Powerhouse but with deeds (and cash) instead of spin. Encourage entrepreneurs, designers and the like to move north by cheap housing and good services (no more stories about lengthy queues when a new dentist arrives in the north). Build new towns in the north, not the south. Refurbish boarded-up streets in northern towns. For industry and commerce, investigate whether more can be done to reduce transport costs.
I really think nothing would make a bigger statement than 650 MPs upping sticks and moving to some northern city. Naturally the lobbyists/industry groups/consultancies would start to follow. Ambitious civil servants would be moving up north for promotion opportunities. You can bet new infrastructure and better links would be on the way pretty soon...
I don't think just spendinf cash is enough for businesses to switch... These cluster effects need a kick-start from government IMO.
USA, Canada, Australia, Brazil, and loads more ountries have different main cities for business and government. Yet UK tries to combine and then wonders why all the jobs are there....
I find it very unlikely that Parliament would move. Westminster is ancient, and I don't think they'd give up that Palace that easily. Far easier to get the businesses to move North, perhaps with variable corporation tax rates or something.
Given the renovations needed - the estimates are if they don't move out of parliament it will literally cost billions more.
To move government north requires political will. But not much else. To persuade businesses is much harder I think... Particularly when London is such a successful city.
And if they do move out permanently, they should just demolish the Palace?
And if they do move out permanently, they should just demolish the Palace?
Haha no definitely not! It should become a museum or something like that. It's an amazing building and a great tourist attraction.
I'm open minded on whether they move back at some point... But crucial to get as many govt jobs outside of London. At the moment they use the excuse of needing to be close to parliament.
I mean DFID has offices right on Whitehall next to cabinet office. They have basically no parliamentary business... They should be based right next to an airport.
Well as a millennial I think we have it harder in some ways... But much easier in others. We get cool technology and holidays to Thailand etc. I think we had great educational opportunities and generally much better chances of going to university.
But competition for jobs is fierce and crazy southern house prices and london-fcused industries cause daft expensive soul draining commutes. But we also have access to global jobs and a lot of friends go abroad quite easily for work (mainly not EU) which IMO is a good way to get ahead. Our qualifications are pretty well respected abroad.
1. We need way more housebuilding. Where I used to live in South there were very well organised njmby groups to say no to anything. Either we need to JFD or find a way to build new towns no one gets offended by.
Government can stay where it is but we do need something a bit like Northern Powerhouse but with deeds (and cash) instead of spin. Encourage entrepreneurs, designers and the like to move north by cheap housing and good services (no more stories about lengthy queues when a new dentist arrives in the north). Build new towns in the north, not the south. Refurbish boarded-up streets in northern towns. For industry and commerce, investigate whether more can be done to reduce transport costs.
I really think nothing would make a bigger statement than 650 MPs upping sticks and moving to some northern city. Naturally the lobbyists/industry groups/consultancies would start to follow. Ambitious civil servants would be moving up north for promotion opportunities. You can bet new infrastructure and better links would be on the way pretty soon...
I don't think just spendinf cash is enough for businesses to switch... These cluster effects need a kick-start from government IMO.
USA, Canada, Australia, Brazil, and loads more ountries have different main cities for business and government. Yet UK tries to combine and then wonders why all the jobs are there....
I find it very unlikely that Parliament would move. Westminster is ancient, and I don't think they'd give up that Palace that easily. Far easier to get the businesses to move North, perhaps with variable corporation tax rates or something.
Those are very different countries to us. Places beyond London need help, but moving the government out of it would not be the answer in my view, we certainly do need loads more housebuilimg though. Sounds simple but apparently we struggle with it so I'm not hopeful.
Comments
I did not have a deprived childhood, my parents (salesman and secretary) were homeowners. I was educated in comprehensives, had a grant for Medical School and worked my way up the tree. I had my first job in a petrol station aged 16, and worked my way through Med School with work in kitchens and behind bars, all decent jobs that educated me in the ways of the world, and taught me a lot about life and work. I inherited £1000 in 1996, but otherwise am completely self made. What has any party done for me, except tax me?
But Nick P is right, the parties all established an environment where people like me could fulfill my potential. I am fully aware that not everybody is in the same situation, and know people who have needed at periods in their lives where the state had to carry them, and do not begrudge them that. Indeed I thank my lucky stars that I have never needed to call on the state apart from the basics such as law and order, defence and education.
The welfare state (or any state function) is like an insurance policy, something to pay for that you never want to use.
My girlfriend was in tears the other day because she had a 500 electric bill come in due to poor estimation and a 600 vets bill come in after the family cat knocked over the christmas tree and got glass in its eye. she had 2£ left to feed her and her two daughters till the first of january as her earnings are 900 a month, Luckily over the last year I have managed to put a whole 300 aside for a rain day,,,,so she and her daughters will still have a christmas thats not an empty plate
Now I've got Kenneth Williams saying it.
Unless you rent in London, you probably don't realise how stupid the current situation now is.
I don't think it was a one off, the players looked hungry again. They are playing for places, and as a team again.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4020990/The-jihadi-sleeper-agent-t-deport-identify.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/12/10/iraq-witch-hunt-fixer-paid-public-cash/
I would say one for the Mayor rather than imposing stuff on everyone else outside London.
(Speaking as someone who has rented in Hampstead/Gospel Oak, Chiswick, Waltamstow, Clapham and EC2, amongst others).
If you mean physical space, stick to physical space, otherwise find out exactly what you do mean and choose the correct technical word .. or use a more general word and leave it silent on specifics and implications if the specifics may be in error.
eg Curtilage
http://planninglawblog.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/curtilage-confusion.html
I live in Llandudno and have done so for over 50 yrears
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vSj2jPuvMyU
Parts of the welfare state still work quite well. The papers are full of alarm about the care system, but I spent a day this week visiting care homes in Penzance for my uncle and found one that he likes and is warmly recommended from various sides, and Cornwall council took exactly 48 hours to come up with full funding for it (£550/week including the national "hotel" part from the Government). Is he lucky? Is Cornwall particularly good? Not sure.
There are IMO at least two fundamental problems. First, the system as is only really works well if you are highly-literate and familiar with all the ins and outs. As a County candidate in a ward with a notably high illiteracy rate I'm appalled to see that the closed police station thinks it can hlep people by a notice with a list of bloody EMAIL addresses to report problems. No phone numbers, no address. The former benefits office (also closed) does exactly the same, plus urging that one goes to their website.
Second, the situation IS getting steadily worse for people at the bottom of the ladder. Because it's gradual, we don't hear that much about it, but I know quite a few people who have been a little worse off nearly every year for a decade or so. At the top of the ladder, we have lots of successful/lucky people who are doing fine (I've generally earned >100K/year for a long time, and that's part hard work and part luck). I think that we need to pay more tax and get serious about helping people who are almost literally being left behind.
For example why is it wages are globalised but prices for finished goods arent such as
https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=tecso jeans judgement
make it simple you want to globalise jobs you globalise prices. You only get your regional prices protected if you make your product within a region that has less than an x% difference to the average wage
If these barriers were to go, unless with a major financial uplift, we would need another form of cost control.
Bed here too - am in day 4 of novovirus, and trust the websites that say it pushes off by day 5 are right...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4021064/Tory-advisers-make-plans-call-snap-General-Election-New-Year-Supreme-Court-rules-Brexit-triggered-Parliament.html
On the subject of people finding their living standards going backwards - it is the cost of housing. Utility bills and cost of travel are a close second.
Last night, while having a discussion with a "mass immigration is a moral right" friend, I suggested a idea.... For each immigrant entering the country, one extra bedrooms worth of planning permission would have to be granted. The reaction was interesting.
* Your 2up2down: mortgage or rental? If rental, is there a clause for subletting?
* Do you live alone?
* Have you any dependent children/alimony payments?
* Where do you work and do you commute there by train/car/other?
These are personal questions so please feel free to tell me to fuck off if you don't want to disclose them. It's just that I have some ideas on how to help but to do that I need to know your circs. Bear in mind you might not like some of my ideas (
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/12/10/nigel-farage-could-made-unofficial-adviser-donald-trump-despite/
Not that long ago, that £1600 would have been half. Literally. We are talking just a few years back....
That is what the politicians can't understand - it is about *disposable* incomes. Headline inflation is non existent. Housing inflation has been 20% in some parts of the country. The problem is that we need to live in houses, not DVD players
We've had super-intelligent non-human beings for a while in the form of corporations. They are sort-of governed by human decision-makers, and they're also regulated by human-run governments, but both these things are becoming gradually less true.
But competition for jobs is fierce and crazy southern house prices and london-fcused industries cause daft expensive soul draining commutes. But we also have access to global jobs and a lot of friends go abroad quite easily for work (mainly not EU) which IMO is a good way to get ahead.
Our qualifications are pretty well respected abroad.
1. We need way more housebuilding. Where I used to live in South there were very well organised njmby groups to say no to anything. Either we need to JFD or find a way to build new towns no one gets offended by.
2. We need to stop supporting (deliberately or accidentally) the London economy. I think one easy way is to permanently/semi permanently move as much of government to somewhere in the North. Probably have to do it gradually- but make it clear that the best promotion opportunities are if you move not if you stay. Would ease housing problems in London and give a huge investment boost to wherever you picked. Can also renovate parliament properly.
You can bet new infrastructure and better links would be on the way pretty soon...
I don't think just spendinf cash is enough for businesses to switch... These cluster effects need a kick-start from government IMO.
USA, Canada, Australia, Brazil, and loads more ountries have different main cities for business and government. Yet UK tries to combine and then wonders why all the jobs are there....
To move government north requires political will. But not much else.
To persuade businesses is much harder I think... Particularly when London is such a successful city.
I'm open minded on whether they move back at some point... But crucial to get as many govt jobs outside of London. At the moment they use the excuse of needing to be close to parliament.
I mean DFID has offices right on Whitehall next to cabinet office. They have basically no parliamentary business... They should be based right next to an airport.